#933 Niseko Snowshoe Tour

Show 933 Saturday 10 January
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Last week I went on a snowshoe tour for the first time. I went on a tour with Scott Adventure Sports. The tour left at 9:30 in the morning and we drove to a national park.

Our guides Binod and Masa showed us how to put the snowshoes on.

And just put your feet … here. And you have to leave the, like, two finger space here.

Binod told us we were walking to a lake.

Hangetsuko means half moon. The lake shape looks like a half moon, that’s why we call Hangetsuko (半月湖).

He said we might see some animals.
If you are lucky you can see some animals.
Such as?
Jackals.
Polar bear?
No, no.

Genki ii na! (You’re really going for it)
Oh, oh, oh, back country!
Nice!

When we got to the lake, Binod dug a hole.
Mmm, peace.

He made a cup of tea.

I’m making chai.
Wow.
You know the chai?
Yes. Nepalese chai.
Yes.

On the way back we took some photos under a tree.

We also had a snow shower.

OK, one, two, three …

There were some really nice people from Singapore on the tour. I asked them if they enjoyed it.

That was fantastic.
From a hot 30 degrees to a minus ten degree … yeah, it’s a wonderful adventure for us. Very good tour and very good tour leaders.
Very beautiful!
Yeah, very good companion here. Fantastic! Cheers!

notes

This tour was on Tuesday 30 December 2009.

music

show start
artist: Boom Tschak
album: Indietronic CCBit.
track: More Chocolate, Please
from: Former Yugoslavia
MySpace

bgm
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G, Movement I (Allegro), BWV 1049
artist site
YouTube channel

Did you notice a mistake in this script? Please leave us a comment and tell us! We really appreciate people pointing out our mistakes.Thank you.

Have you translated this script - or part of it - into your language for English practice and published it on your blog? Please leave a comment and a link so other people can read your translation. Thank you.

#932 Clumsy, Bamboo Shoot Raid, Breathe, Fire Safety

Show 932 Friday 9 January
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Hi, I’m Sarah, welcome to The Daily English Show.

I’d thought we’d study a pop song today. So I went and checked out the most viewed videos on the Universal Music Group’s YouTube channel. And I found a song that I thought would be interesting to study. It’s called Clumsy.

It’s pretty easy to understand – it’s just about a girl who is falling in love and the effect that that’s having on her.

She says that she’s become clumsy because she’s falling in love.

clumsy adj. moving or doing things in a very awkward way

For example: I spilt your coffee. Sorry – that was clumsy of me.

She also says she has butterflies.
Butterflies are a funny feeling in you have in your stomach when you feel nervous.

And here are some words from the chorus that you could study:

tripping
stumbling
flipping
fumbling
slipping
tumbling
sinking
crumbling

Do you know what all those words mean?

To stumble means to almost fall over.
To trip means to catch your foot on something and then stumble or fall.
To tumble means to fall: suddenly, clumsily, or headlong.
To crumble means to fall apart gradually or to break into pieces like a biscuit or a cookie.
Fumble means: use the hands clumsily while doing or handling something.

So, if I was attempting to open my phone and make a call and then, I don’t know, Will Smith walked past, I’d probably get really nervous and start fumbling.

STICK NEWS

Kia Ora in Stick News today police in Japan have raided five companies in connection with a bamboo shoot labeling scam.

The Ministry of Agriculture said a company called Takenokoya sold more than 1000 tonnes of boiled Chinese bamboo shoots last year. They mixed the Chinese bamboo shoots with a small amount of Japan-grown bamboo shoots, and labeled them as being grown in Japan. The bamboo-shoots were then sold to other companies who sold them to supermarkets all over Japan. According to Kyodo news photographs of fake farmers were even attached to the bamboo shoot labels. The agriculture ministry said the people in the pictures were simply employees of the companies.

And that was Stick News for Friday the 9th of January.
Kia Ora.

TDES Niseko Snow Report
in Kutchan

On my way back from the gym on Wednesday a fire department parade went past. They were driving slowly so I had time to get out my camera and start filming.

町内の皆さん、明けましておめでとうございます。
Happy New Year everyone.

今日は消防出初め式です。
Today the fire department opens for the year.

今年も火の用心をお願いします。
Please continue to be careful with fire this year.

Word of the Day

Today’s word is breathe.

This is a line from today’s song:

Can't breathe, when you touch my sleeve

Breathe means to take air into your lungs and send it out again through your nose or mouth.
By the way, the noun for that air that goes inside your lungs … is called breath.

So if someone is panicking you can say to them: calm down, take a deep breath.

And back to that song, when the person that she’s singing about touches her sleeve, she can’t breathe because she’s overcome with emotion.

friday joke

What did the baby digital watch say to the mummy analogue watch?
Look Mum, no hands!

conversations with sarah
#582 That’s pretty funny

Step 1: Repeat Mary’s lines.
Step 2: Read Mary’s lines and talk to Sarah.

Mary That’s pretty funny.

Sarah Yeah it is. It’s pretty bad too though actually.

Mary Yeah, true. It makes people stop trusting food labels.

Sarah Exactly. I always look at those pictures too and I’m like thank you very much for all your hard work growing this carrot or whatever … and now I’m going to be like mmm are they really farmers?

Mary There have been a lot of food labelling scandals, haven’t there?

Sarah Yeah, there have.

links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS pictures

music

show start
artist: Boom Tschak
album: Indietronic CCBit.
track: More Chocolate, Please
from: Former Yugoslavia
MySpace

nsr start
artist: Zeropage
album: Ambient Pills Update
track: Is It Real?
from: Switzerland
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

nsr bgm
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Bass Vibes
artist site
YouTube channel

WOD start
artist: DJ iPep's
album: Home Mix 2007
track: Game Toy
from: EVREUX, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

friday joke start
artist: AdHoc
album: Toutes directions
track: Sumbala
from: Annecy, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

cws start
artist: Wolfgang S.
album: Indietronic CCBit.
track: Dynamite
from: Belgrade, Serbia, Former Yugoslavia
artist site
MySpace

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Style Funk
artist site
YouTube channel

Did you notice a mistake in this script? Please leave us a comment and tell us! We really appreciate people pointing out our mistakes.Thank you.

Have you translated this script - or part of it - into your language for English practice and published it on your blog? Please leave a comment and a link so other people can read your translation. Thank you.